The Age of George III

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Magistrates' resolution, 1794

This transcript is taken from the Lancashire Quarter Sessions records, showing how some authorities, even before the first Factory Act, tried to protect the children in their care by not allowing them to be apprenticed to master who would work them for long hours.

Resolved

That it is the Opinion of this Court, that it is highly expedient for the Magistrates in this County, to Refuse their Allowance to all Indentures of Parish Apprentices, who shall be Bound to Owners of Cotton Mills or other Manufactories, in which Children are obliged to Work in the Night or more than Ten hours in a Day.

And it is ordered that this Resolution shall be Communicated to the Clerks of the Peace for the Counties of Chester, Stafford, Flint, Denbigh, Derby, York and Westmorland, and that the same shall be published in the Manchester and Liverpool Newspapers.

By Order of Court

James Taylor
Deputy Clerk of the Peace for the County of Lancaster